Chapter III: Revisiting Things Past

Returning to a

place twenty years later, I

discovered it marks

history,

not in years but

in millennia

Russell Wasden

New York

To fully understand most Japanese poetry, it is best to have an idea of the context under which the poem was written. The tanka above is similar. Twenty years ago, I went to Japan for the first time. I was still a teenager then, unsure of many things. Japan helped me broaden my perspective of the world.

Twenty years later, this special place continues to help me see things differently, especially when I stop to think that Japan is currently celebrating the one thousandth anniversary of a national treasure. How many countries in the world could do such a thing?

Revisiting the past with a new perspective is very important, something that each of us should do as much as possible. For example, the Japan I experienced twenty years ago will not be the same as Japan I will experience this summer. Moreover, the person I saw in the mirror twenty years ago is not the same person I see in the mirror today.

Time gives us opportunities to learn and grow; therefore, as time passes, we learn more about ourselves and the world. Reflecting on the past is an important way to understand what we have learned over time.

As Japan reflects over the past 1,000 years of Genji, one wonders what is the same about this country, and what is different. Has it changed over time? Maybe I will find small answers to big questions like these on my trip, which officially begins tomorrow!

Your Task:

Pick a time in your life when you "revisited" something from your past. What was the same about it, and what was different? How did those changes make you feel?

OR

Look at the two images from Genji that are posted above. Where do you think they come from? Why would Japan want to immortalize Genji in these ways?